New Monkland

[Forfarian]

I've spent a fair bit of time recently trying to find that answer.

Aye, well, try asking first the next time - you might either (a) save yourself some time or (b) spot an error in my work that needs to be corrected.

I have trees of a fair proportion of the Waddells from Old and New Monkland, Shotts, Cambusnethan, Slamannan, Whitburn etc and some others, mostly in collaboration with Gavin.

[Forfarian]

Mummyhornsby, where do you fit in to all this? Are you descended from George Waddell of Gain? If so, how?

[mummyhornsby]

If you check the previous threads you will find me in there! My husband is the 3 x great grandson of George Waddell of Gain by way of John Waddell the contractor. I have been in correspondence with Gavin many moons ago and have also had other Waddell connections in the quest!
I am pleased to see it wasn't "my" George who had the illegitimate child! Thanks again for the info.

[Forfarian]

Ah. There are just 5 posts by mummyhornsby, all in this thread. So your earlier posts in othe threads must have been under a different identity?

[mientajb]

This is a fascinating thread. I have just come across a Janet Waddel who marries William Finlay in 1741. Her father is James Waddell of Holehouseburn.

I did an internet search and found that A James Waddel of Holehouseburn, born in 1660, wrote a book called A Christian Life in which he spells out his lineage and describes his immediate family members. The book is about his Covenanting experiences.

I realise that it is a longshot but has anyone heard of this book. It seems too good to be true that one of my ancestors created such a record.

[Forfarian]

Yes, I have heard of it - tried to see it at the National Archives, but it was unavailable because it was undergoing conservation. I gather that it is a rather tedious devotional book with nuggets of useful information incorporated in it. It is still marked as closed to searchers in the catalogue.

The NRS catalogue description reads GD1/117/3    Notebook containing manuscript reminiscenses by James Waddel in Holehouseburn (1660-1729). These mostly refer to his spiritual state, but include glimpses of the quartering of soldiers in Livingston parish about 1680-1686 and of William Cleland's raising of the Cameronian regiment at Douglas in 1689; and they give a very good impression of the Covenanting mentality.

There is a stone in Whitburn kirkyard, which is pretty hard to read, but I made out Erected An Dom MDC by Ja Waddel of Hollhouseburn who died .... Eliza Beugo his spouse Feb 28 .... Alex Waddel .... his son John .... Agnes Wilson .... his spouse .... Aug .... their daughter .... their other .... of the same .... James Waddel of Crofthead died .... Kath Steel .... his spouse .... their son John Waddel at Braehead died July .... Agnes Waddel daughter of John Waddel died Nov .... aged 3? .... to John Waddel .... Very frustrating!

There is also a document by one H A Forsyth, of which this is an extract James Waddel the Covenanter had one daughter by the second wife named Jean. She married one John Thomson, a proprietor of lands in Feldhouse or Fauldhouse or Fallas (John Clarks') and they had an only daughter Janet who married John Storry of the Badallans in the parish of Camusnethan, the father of John Storry latterly of Burnhead.  [H A Forsyth JP FSA, 'Some scribbled notes about the Waddels and the Storrys']

I've looked at the family of William Finlay and Janet Waddell but I can't find my notes at the moment. If I recall correctly their family were all born in the parish of Torphichen. However one of their daughters, Janet Finlay, married Alexander Russell, and their daughter, Janet Russell, married Alexander Simpson, brother of the famous Sir James Young Simpson. The Simpsons' great-grandmother was Elizabeth Storry, whose brother William Storry of Badallan was the father of John Storry of Badallan who married Janet Thomson.

The problem is that this Janet was married in 1741, and her youngest recorded child was born in 1762. She must have been at least 14 in 1741, and she can't realistically have been over 50 in 1762, so she must have been born between 1711/12 and 1726/7. According to H A Forsyth James 'The Covenanter' Waddell of Holehouseburn had one surviving son by his first wife, and a son and a daughter by his second wife, born 1698 and 1699. Janet cannot be his daughter by his first wife, because she must have been born long after he married his second wife. She could, just, be his granddaughter by his son James. James' eldest recorded child, Alexander, was born in 1725, and there isn't a Janet among the rest of the recorded family. Perhaps James was married about 1720, and Janet was an older child whose baptism has not survived.

There are sasines referring to 'James Waddell of Wholehouseburn and James Waddell his second son" dated 2 February 1724, 5 October 1736 and 13 June 1750. If James 'The Covenanter' died in 1729, then the first sasine cannot refer to the same James Waddells as the later ones. Also, although the second son of James Waddell younger was James, he was only born in 1736, and it seems odd to have a sasine referring to an infant only a few months old.

All in all, it is quite a conundrum!

[mientajb]

What a magnificent response. Thank you. I come down from the sister of Janet Russell, Elizabeth, who married Alexander Myles. From Bathgate they move to Dumfries where Alexander is the Supervisor of customs and excise. Elizabeth unfortunately dies the day after their daughter is born in 1820. Anything else that you can find about the Waddels and Russels would be of great interest. Thanks again.

[djw1622]

Hi,

Just found this discussion and am very interested in knowing more.  So far I've traced my family tree to the Waddells of Leadloch, my particular ancestor being John Waddell born at Leadloch in 1823 (one of 11 children).

I visited the farm a couple of years ago (I live not far from Fauldhouse) and noticed that the Waddell family crest above the door had the dates "1722-1896".  Would this indicate that the Waddells first moved to Leadloch in 1722?  I noted an earlier comment that Adam Waddell bought Holehouseburn in 1609.

I have two particular areas of interest at present - the first being when the family moved to Leadloch and where from, and the other the circumstances surrounding the sale of the farm - from what I can gather the last Waddell owner was James Alexander Waddell of Leadloch and it passed out of the family on his death (in Canada - as a very wealthy man).

Any further information would be of great interest.

[Forfarian]

I can't honestly answer either question, djw1622, except to say that the oldest reference I have found to someone described as either 'of' or 'in' Leadloch was when James Waddell was served heir general to his father Archibald Waddell in Leadloch on 11th May 1784 (date of recording 1784, July 15, Monthly number 15 - I have not looked at the original document). Unfortunately I have no idea how this Archibald Waddell fits into the Holehouseburn family or the rest of the Leadloch family.

If you can, as you don't live too far from Edinburgh, I suggest that you try to spend a day in the Historial Search Room of the National Records of Scotland, and see what you can turn up in the Registers of Sasines and Services of Heirs.

I also found the following in The Times of 23 November 1928: Mr James Alexander Waddell, of Kew-terrace, Glasgow, an antiquary, who died last April, aged 76, is understood to have left estate valued at £310,401. He left the residue of his estate together with his mansion at Kew-Terrace, Glasgow, to his housekeeper, Miss Janet Ormiston, in appreciation of kindly services rendered in the course of a number of years. It is not yet known what the residue will amount to, but it is certain to be a considerable sum.

This James Alexander Waddell was unmarried, and described as a landed proprietor. His parents were James Waddell of Leadloch, described in his death certificate as 'Canadian merchant', and Mary Macnee.

Who was the one who died in Canada?